First Singapore Woman to reach the South Pole

She has never dared to dream of herself, with six other woman from other countries holding and hugging the metal globe that symbolizes the geographical South pole one day. After all, she was just a petite woman only 1.54m in height.

But her perseverance in the trainings pulled off and her dreams had became a reality. Together with a group of women, they embarked on a 38 days journey to the South pole, and they made it. Mdm Sophia Pang was the first Singaporean woman ever to make it to the South pole.

The 37 year old was in fact the most petite amongst her counterparts from Commonwealth, but she completed the gruesome journey of 900km in temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees celsius, as well as any of her peers could pull off.

The freelance IT and fitness trainer wasn't even qualified for the expedition when she first appealed to join the team. But her perseverance and determination mended her shortcomings - she was so hardworking in the training sessions that her strength almost doubled by the end of them.

One of the exercises in the arduous training course, which included a combination strength training, cardiovascular workouts, stretching and core exercises, required the trainer to pull a 120 kg heavy load across 40m. At first, Mdm Pang could only finish it in more than a minute. Now, she can complete the same task in half the time.

Mdm Pang's case is a good example of how perseverance and self-confidence can help achieve success. Although her built was initially not fit for the expedition, but with perseverance in the trainings, she improved her stature greatly and managed to complete her journey to the South Pole just as well as her fitter counterparts.

Although her legs and hands were numb from the cold and sore from the arduous journey, she still gritted her teeth and finished the 900km journey. It is really inspiring for someone like me who finds it tiring to walk a kilometer, that some things in life we find impossible, we can achieve as long as we have confidence in ourselves and persevere.

However daunting the journey ahead may seem, we can achieve anything if we defeat ourselves first. Once we can overcome our fears, worries and decadence, we are bound to succeed in anything we do.

X-team Party 28/12/09

In order to celebrate the return of our X-team (small church fellowship group for P5 to Sec 2 ) leaders from Cambodia, we held a simple party yesterday at church. We had great fun and fellowship time together.

Samuel and I had to go to school first for the second training session of the Sec 1 Orientation. At about 3pm, we finished and quickly took a bus to the Botanical Gardens, where the rest of the boys were playing.

The game we enjoyed best at the Botanical Gardens was Police and Thief. Some people were "thieves" who had to run away from us, the "police". It was fun because there were more thieves than police and they could run and hide around the whole big botanical gardens. It was easy to escape unseen.

Because of the unexpected drizzling, we headed back for church. The next session was devoted to a fun time of soccer at the small car park in our church. Because of space constraints, the other boys went to the kitchen to help out the girls in the cooking of dinner. After a tiring game of soccer, I also volunteered to cook the chicken nuggets.

Dinner was finally ready. When Mark, our worship leader, gathered volunteers for the singing session, I gleefully participated too because I personally enjoy singing.

We had a great sing-along session. Almost everyone sang together with the songs, and for those who were unfamiliar with the lyrics, they also clapped along with the rhythm of the songs.

We ended this wonderful gathering with a fantastic session of games - soccer passing, soccer juggling and poison ball. I was lucky to avoid many ball throws and was the last one standing on the "battlefield".

It was indeed a meaningful party. At first, I even wanted to skip this party so I can play my computer games...:), but it turns out that the party is much more fun.

I also found that I have improved relations with some of my friends, including Mark, Justin, Steven and Sean. It had been a great time of socializing.

I hope to have time to attend more of such gatherings in the future.

Zi Char to Paradise

A mini restaurant empire, two cars, one of which is a Mercedes, a three-room condominium apartment with lift access - this is a life Mr Eldwin Chua, 32, never dared to dream of before.

But this has become reality in merely 7 years for the once Zi Char cook. He is now the chief executive officer of the Paradise group of restaurant, including the newly opened Taste Paradise restaurant at Ion Orchard and 7 other Chinese restaurants.

From the age of 12, Mr Eldwin Chua already had experience working part-time at MacDonald's. By 16, he was juggling three jobs a day during the school holidays as a convenience store assistant, a hotel banquet helper and kitchen assistant at the seafood restaurant Palm Beach.

He did not think of the dining industry as his source of income, but just some extra money to buy the things he liked - then trendy things like cassette Walkman, pager and stunt bicycles for his own leisure.

But after National Service, he began to wise up and stop spending money chasing materialistic goods. A door of opportunity was opened to Eldwin in 2002 when his grandfather, Mr Chua Seng Kee, asked him to help run his coffee shop in Defu Industrial State.

Eldwin leased out the stalls, ran the drinks stall himself and soon after, took over the Zi Char stall when its owner quit. The quick-thinking business saw it as a business opportunity because if the Zi Char stall was popular, people would come for dinner, and this would at the same time, improve his drinks stall business.

He helped out in the kitchen, cooking simple dishes like fried rice and noodles. But the stall could not run till the evenings.

Undeterred, he launched value-for-money set meals priced from $16.90 for three persons, and new innovative ideas like the creamy butter crab. The set meals were an instant hit, and the new ideas drew crowds after positive reviews of the stall's food appeared on the Straits Times.

Gradually, with the increasing diners, the converted the once 50-seat stall into a 400-seat restaurant. His crew of staff also grew from three to ten.

Eldwin went on to opening the fine-dining Chinese restaurant Taste Paradise in Mosque Street in 2006. Equipped with 4 years of entrepreneurship experience under his belt, he repeated his time-tested strategy of launching new innovative dishes - this time, the shark's fin in Japanese claypot to maintain its taste and heat. This, alongside with another round of positive reviews, helped his new restaurant take off.

Today, Mr Chua has built a food empire of high quality chinese food. Successful entrepreneurship is really not just about luck, as they always say, but a combination of innovation, creativity and perseverance.

It has been my childhood aspiration to become a entrepreneur one day. I am not sure what kind of business I going to run, definitely not food, but this story has nonetheless greatly inspired me that as long as you have determination and flexibility, you can overcome any difficulty. This has been aptly proven by how Mr Chua's value-for-money set dinner instant hit solved the problem of the lack of customers.

It is indeed difficult to survive in a highly competitive and dynamic environment. Taste and trend changes more quicker than before, but Mr Chua's case has no doubt, motivated me that as long as you modestly take a step at a time, eventually with some perseverance, you would succeed one day.

GLCC Christmas Fiesta and Musical 2009

To celebrate Jesus' birth, and salvation, as well as reach out to those who are yet to be saved, our church, GLCC, organized a Christmas Musical and Fiesta yesterday.

It has always been our church's "tradition" to hold a musical and fiesta every Christmas. Every year, the whole auditorium would be totally full with church members and newcomers. This year was no exception.

The theme of this year's musical is "What is Christmas to you?". To many being interviewed, it is basically "just another holiday", it is "family time", it is "presents", vague words like "happiness". But do they really feel happy? To us, Christmas has a very special meaning - it is the saviour's birth and the start of salvation.

Casting in the musical were four people who were lost about what is Christmas to them. They try very hard to seek true happiness in the secular world - by partying, buying new toys, trying to organize a family dinner, by looking at temporary happy moments taken down by photos, but in the end, what they feel is only emptiness.

Pastor Mike simplified it in his sermon by putting it that everything in this world is temporary, including happiness, which everyone is so wanting to seek.

Jesus has came to this world to pay a debt and take a punishment for something he did not commit, but something we did yet are unable to pay.

In this world, there are only moments of happiness, and then it is just gone, and what follows is emptiness. The only way to true and everlasting happiness is through God. From this sermon, I really gained a deeper understanding of what is true happiness.

Coming to the Christmas Fiesta - it was different from past years' fiesta. First, the prices were much higher, haha, but food and items sold were much more interesting.

There was a special stall which sold hamburgers cooked straight on the spot in front of our eyes. My friend also set up his own stall selling art and craft pieces, as well as keychains which you can "bead" your name unto.

As a whole, this year's Christmas event was a great success, especially with the number of people who trusted the lord as their saviour. I hope to run my own stall next year, selling drinks and tidbits so please come and support!

Friend, what is Christmas to you? If you are lost today, just remember Jesus is the only way to true an everlasting happiness.

Secondary One Orientation

It is approaching the start of a new year and the freshmen are coming in. It is a councillor duty to welcome these freshmen into the Hwa Chong family, and I was fortunate and privileged to be selected as buddy of a group in the Orientation.

To help us refresh our memory for the cheers, as well as learn some useful techniques of facilitation (being a buddy), the organizing team held a short training session for us last Wednesday.

The teacher-in-charge, Mr Teo, first gave us a crash course on what it takes to be an effective facilitator, including some techniques we can adopt to build rapport with the freshmen, and some rules we have to follow as buddies.

Some useful techniques involved - relating to the students, asking them about general things in their life and what is happening, asking questions to check their mood and help them learn, getting feedback etc.

The Organizing Team helped us refresh our memory of the cheers through prompting us when we forgot the lines. Most of us are still in holiday dreamland mode, so the enthusiasm of the Organizing members really helped us warm up to the mood. They also taught us some useful icebreakers we can use during the game times allocated to us.

The theme for this year's SSO ( Secondary One Orientation ) is Ignition Drive. In order to produce fire, one needs fuel (wood), heat and oxygen. Oxygen is something we cannot control, the freshmen are like dry wood fuel; we can't control their mood either, but one thing we can control is the heat, ourselves.

In order to warm up the freshmen and make them feel welcomed as one Hwa Chong family, we ourselves have to be passionate and enthusiastic. They must feel our passion and see the fire in our eyes.

I hope this year's Sec 1 Orientation would be a success. My buddies during last year orientation, had greatly inspired me and welcomed me to the school, so I hope I myself can be a blessing to the next batch of Sec 1s too. I hope I can gain their respect as well.

I can understand the difficulties of adapting to a totally new environment from the six years in Primary School. I hope to learn the skills of warming up and breaking the ice with people through this orientation. Building rapport with others is a extremely handy, useful and relevant skill.

Game on. (2)

Still remember my previous post about the Earth race - where all countries compete with each other who plays a bigger role in saving the Earth to prove their power?

Copenhagen has been described a failure because the meeting was being held for cooperation. But many countries were unwilling to sacrifice their countries' development ( especially the developing countries ) for the Earth.

The best way to spur countries to be willing to help cut down on global carbon emissions is to encourage competition between them, just like how Russia and US competed in the Cold War who can first put a man up on space.

Of course, the best way out of this global warming problem is to have leaders who can look at the bigger picture and greater vision of the whole world, instead of their own countries. Countries have sufficient leaders, the world need leaders.

Mr Obama also shouldn't have protected America's rights with his unwillingness to cut down on the country's carbon emissions. By setting a bad example, the developing countries will also be unwilling to sacrifice because even the developed countries are also not doing anything.

But, since the situation has been become one of protection of own rights, the best way to break the "stalemate" is to encourage competition amongst the countries who plays the biggest role and responsibility as a country in saving the world.

America should have already taken the lead way before it came to Copenhagen, as the leader of the world. It should have pledged drastic cuts before the Copenhagen meeting, and taken feasible and "noble" actions to cut its carbon emissions.

Copenhagen shouldn't be a place where unwilling countries meet and agree on specific cuts, Copenhagen should be a battle ring, where America, after much actions and promises, goes to the front and proudly showcases its achievements. This is after all, what a leader should do.

Everyone should prepare, take actions aimed at cutting emissions, plant more trees, set more goals, and look forward to the meeting, where they will compete who has done the most, compare their achievements, and ambitiously pledge higher targets against one another.

Those developing countries who are unwilling to sacrifice would gradually feel left out from this race, and competition, and they will slowly join in the fight against global warming. Though it is just a platform for countries to compete their powers against each other, it is actually unknowingly saving the Earth and all the people from rising temperatures.

Premier Wen (China) should also go up and push Mr Obama away, and proudly show many trees China has planted and showcase their future vision of polluted city, Shanghai, become a green city, the world''s most green and pollution-free city.

The virtuous circle will keep going on - India feels it is no where worse than China, it will also aim to overtake China in the competition. Brazil compete with India, Japan with Brazil, Russia with Japan, Germany with Russia, France with Germany........

In fact, we can even create a table of ranking and merit annually (America 1st, China 2nd for example), judged by the showcasing of achievements at Copenhagen, to transform this global responsibility burden into a hot subject of competition.

Game on.

Game on.

The Copenhagen climate meeting had been described as a failure, with the great polarity in opinions, perspectives, and national priorities, and disagreements over the procedures.

Many countries, especially developing countries, were unwilling to deepen cuts, or even maintain their committed cuts on carbon emission, while the developed countries felt there was a need to for all to play a part in saving the world.

Many disagreements and heated arguments ended in unexpected situations of leaders leaving the room halfway between talks. It as highly complicated talk, with no finalized decision.

Many countries also were unhappy that it was the BASIC (Brazil, America, South Africa, India and China) group of countries that decided for the world what should be done in a final hurried political statement.

It seems that countries are unwilling to look at the big picture of saving the Earth, instead, focusing on protecting their individual country rights. They did not want to contribute to a global effort in the expense of their own development.

It is a wonder why this situation didn't happen during the cold war when Russia competed against US on who can be fastest to put a man up in space. After all, astrology cannot help develop a country?

Of course, as we all know, it is a competition to prove the countries' power and abilities. If global emission cuts can be also be a subject of competition amongst the countries like back then, then unwillingness wouldn't be present.

What Mr Obama should do during the Copenhagen summit is to look straight right into Chinese Premier Wen Jia Bao's eye and say in a serious tone, "Mr Wen, America is going to beat China in saving the world. We will have a deeper emission cuts than you. Game on." (Wink)

Following that, China will compete with America to prove its global leadership position and responsibility as superpower to save the Earth. India will compete with China, Brazil will compete with India, Japan with Brazil, and Russia with Japan, and so on...

Game on.

Facebook Usage

Start being careful with the friends you have on Facebook as well as the things you post on Facebook in future.

Research show that there is a growing number of cases of employees losing jobs due to their unwariness in status updates in Facebook.

Last week, an employee took a sick leave from work because his favourite band was in town. His friends took photos of them together at the concert, and a day after posted it to his Facebook page. Unfortunately, his colleagues saw his photos and word about his faked sickness spread to his supervisor. In the end, he was fired.

Other employee was ticked off by his boss after photos of him enjoying a steak dinner at a restaurant was seen by his boss. He was supposed to be on sick leave and resting at home due to diarrhea.

With this advantage networking sites bring, the police have also set up a page in Facebook to collect information about crime cases which suspects post on their pages.

Lawyers have also been using Facebook to their advantages. In fact, almost half of divorce cases being brought up to court have at least some association with Facebook information gathering.

Many netizens have been angry over such incidents because Facebook should be a place where people expresses their personal thoughts and feelings freely without any public invasion of personal privacy.

Facebook should also be something out-of-work for personal leisure and networking. It is certainly not a convenient tool of crime case-breaking, and a easy platform for employers to catch employees red-handed.

Where Facebook was once a place where people can freely relieve their thoughts, it has now become a restricted site by the police watching. Where Facebook was once a escapade and a getaway to relive stress, people must now carefully pen down what they are saying - the true purpose of a networking site has been destroyed.

It is indeed a pity employers have to turn to such methods to control their people. If they are motivated enough to work towards a common goal, I don't think a decent steak dinner would affect their performance, drive and effort in work the next day.

I hope there would be clearer lines between work and play... Play shouldn't involve stress from work and the pressuring monitor from employers.

Christmas Celebration

Hi all, I recently took part in a Christmas Caroline @ Orchard as CIP event. Rather fun and exciting to stand in front of the whole crowd. I have seen such performances many times before but it was my first experience standing on stage and playing the piano in the public.

I was helping out our school's choir as pianist for a christmas caroline our school organized, for the experience, joy, and of course, most importantly, the CIP hours, haha:) We had three days rehearsal and practice before we went to Orchard on the 18th so I was quite confident I can perform well.

We planned to perform simple and well known songs like Jingle Bells, Joy to the World, Hark the Harold Angels Sing. We had some free time in between the final practice and the real performance itself, so I made se of the time to make some friends. To my surprise, there were actually volunteers from other CCAs that participated as well.

The first location we performed at was Tangs Orchard. There was a mini stage for the choir to stand and sing, and we set up the piano at the side of the stage because it was near the audio cables settings.

It was not as simple as I thought - the technicians had to connect the piano to the damper / pedal, set up the audio amplifiers and cable the amplification wires into the piano. The volume of the piano had to be tested so it would not be too soft yet would not override the choir sound.

The crowd that gathered around was, to our pleasant surprise and fear:), quite big. We were performing beside the road, and with the crowd, it was really hot. Everything went fine except for a technical glitch in the middle, where the piano suddenly went mute.

Nonetheless, the choir continued singing, and I calmly tried all ways to fix the problem before the next song started. Finally, the keyboard sound came back, and we all let out a huge sigh of relief, including my parents who were watching me.

Fortunately, the final stop at Wisma went fine.

I feel that through this event, I have learnt how to coordinate as a team member, and how to stay calm when there are difficulties (the technical glitch). It is indeed a good exposure for me to perform in front of the public, as well as a effective platform to build up my confidence.

I am looking forward to my next performance at Wisma Atria again next Monday, 8pm. Please come and support us if you happen to pass by. Thanks.

Killer Litter (2)

Watch your head when you are walking at the foot of a HDB flat in future.

Just yesterday, it has been reported in the newspaper another fatal killer litter incident where a inconsiderate woman killed a wedding guest when the flowerpot she threw landed on his head.

In response to the rising number of killer litter cases in Singapore, the HDB is now taking more serious actions against offenders.

Over the next few months, it will send out warning letters to about 900,000 HDB residents, urging them to remove dangerously-placed items at high-rise buildings, and to report neighbours who fail to do so.

Warning posters would also be placed in strategic areas in the residential areas to send out a clear message - There would be zero-tolerance to offenders who litter dangerously. The maximum punishment for offenders would be now heightened to $2000 fine as well as 2-years jail serving term.

It is comforting to see that at least the government is taking actions to curb this dangerous threat, but I still personally feel that punishment and stern warnings on one particular matter is not the best approach to solving this problem.

The bigger and greater picture the government should see is the tackling the root of the problem - inconsideration for others. Most killer litter case are either caused by inconsideration, or because the offender is mentally ill.

If I am very close to my neighbours, even if I am inconsiderate, I wouldn't want to throw dangerous and bulky items down my window and threaten my good friends' safety. But if I don't know my neighbours and they are strangers, I probably would't care. So, rising killer litter case might indicate a lack of unity and comradeship amongst the residents.

Some solutions to deter offenders:

"Soft" solutions to the bigger problem:

• Town council to organize more resident-bonding events like games or walkathons
• To encourage residents to get to know each other
• Educate residents on the importance of caring and thinking for others

"Hard" solutions that solely focuses no killer-littering:

• Heavy fine
• Long jail term
• Step up on security - installation of secret security cameras to identify culprit

Of course, the most ideal solutions are the "soft" solution. The mindset of the people is the most important. When people start becoming more considerate, kind and caring for others, many other problems in the society caused by inconsideration would disappear too.

Only when people are more considerate, then can we achieve the great vision of being a gracious society.

Are we controlling technology, or is technology controlling us?

This is a million-dollar question. There is no doubt, great polarity on this issue; some think in a technologically-advanced world, life cannot go on without technology, while some think it is better to refrain from technology.

I can still vividly remember my father telling me firmly at the start of the year, "I don't believe humans cannot survive without technology". When I reminded him of what he said yesterday, he couldn't believe he actually said that.

That proves a clear point that technology really, indeed make our lives more comfortable, and make work more convenient, and lastly, humans are depending on it more and more.

We are controlling technology - this is mainly what is happening to the working class, who think technology in their lives, is merely a tool for greater ease and convenience at work. They think they can do without it, just that things get less convenient.

Of course, the correct thing to do is to control technology, and correctly utilize it to our benefit appropriately. But most children nowadays enjoy being controlled by technology - they are addicted to fun games in their PSP, XBOX and Wii.

In fact, they are so addicted to this sedentary games that they think about it when they are doing their homework, when they are in school and even in the exam room. Technology has became the root of all evils in the minds of the children.

It is not wrong to get "controlled" by technology once in a while to rest and relax, but we should maintain a degree of self-control and instead letting it take over our lives, and become the main subject of all our thoughts, we should intelligently utilize this effective tool to our benefit in making friends, doing work and completing projects.

Killer Litter

Believe it or not, it is a fact proven time and again that we are selfish people. Just last saturday, another shocking incident has once again revealed the selfish nature of human beings.

For months, residents of 206D Compassvale Lane in Sengkang had to live with heavy and sharp glass bottles, half-eaten food, and sometimes even sanitary pads raining down on them. Worried that this inconsiderate and dangerous act of littering would one day seriously injure or even kill someone, residents have been complaining to the town council since three months ago though they did not know where exactly the culprit was living.

With this missing information, the town council could only send members and volunteers to each unit of the HDB block to warn them of the dangers of killer litter. When they reached the last flat on the top level, which was the culprit's house, it was found to be locked. The volunteers who did not know it was her residence, left upon seeing it was locked.

Last Saturday, the resident's worst fears finally came to pass. A two-day wedding was being held at the foot of the block.

A wedding guest who was standing at the foot of the block, was struck on the head by a flowerpot. Mr Kasman Samat, 48, suffered from sever fracture to his head, and injures to his face.

Several other guests, including a four-year-old girl had close shaves with fatal injuries. They were almost injured by a heavy glass chili bottle and a another flowerpot.

It was indeed very inconsiderate and irresponsible of the woman to litter bulky and heavy object from her floor. Whether it was deliberately planned, or just mere dumping of unwanted items, this selfish acts proves a extremely dangerous threat to the people.

I feel that this is not a alienated case on its own. When tackling this problem of killer litter, the government should not just solely find solutions to solve the problem of killer litter. I feel everything that has been going on ( killer litter is just one of the many cases ), is associated with the basic core selfish nature of humans, if not, Singaporeans.

Just as the chinese saying goes, "对症下药 ”，the government should solve the basic problem of selfishness amongst Singaporeans, and with it, many other problems caused by selfishness would be solved ( including killer litter ).

Maybe the fact that people are just taking care of their personal needs shows the lack of unity amongst Singaporeans, which explains the public lack of concern for everyone's "common interest and benefit".

The town council should plan more residents-bonding events like ice-breakers etc. to unite and bond the residents so a spirit of 守望相助 would be developed.

The Right Mindset of Keeping Fit

With the increasing number of deaths being reported in NS, and the recent decision to extend basic military training, it has became a foregone conclusion that we are indeed an unfit lot.

It is really a worrying though because young men in their late teens should be in the peak of their physical health, yet compulsive indulgence in unhealthy modern technology and games seem to have taken the upper hand in the order of nature.

It is quite pathetic to see many putting in their last-ditch effort in the gyms working out in the holidays right after their A-levels examinations. According to statistics, 20 years back, there were only 4.2% of new recruits who were obese. The number has since jumped to a gaping 10%.

Personally, I am already starting to prepare for NS, and I'm trying to maintain a healthy body fitness to balance with my unhealthy indoor lifestyle of computer games, PSP and XBOX. I would run for 2.8 km everyday in the gym.

My friend once criticize me with his own opinion, "Why spend 6 years (Secondary School and JC) preparing for just 2 years." At first thought, it does seem strange, but after some reflecting, I finally understood that all the exercise is not just for NS, but is a early start to maintain a life-long healthy lifestyle. That is a bigger picture than the mere 2 year framework. Of course, a benefit by-product of this regular exercise would be a easy time in NS.

Many have the incorrect mindset that BMT is the place to keep themselves fit, and thats the main objective of NS, so they prefer to spend their growing up years engaged in modern, sedentary pastimes.

After NS, they would let out a huge sigh of relief, then "convert" back to the old sedentary lifestyle. This time, maybe, doing work in front the computer 10 hours a day. Exercise would be forgotten as people get more and more decadent.

If our youths are already unfit in their prime, what will happen when they grow up?

It is indeed a worrying trend because the NS slimming centre can only provide slimming service for 2 years in an average lifespan of 80 years. What people really need to do is to start from young , and continue their healthy and active lifestyle even after NS.

The Foreign Talent Dilemma

This is a hot topic being discussed over the internet and being reported in the newspapers recently.

As a developed country, Singapore faces a aging population crisis problem where there are insufficient newborns to replace the older generation. With women focusing more time and energy on career nowadays, it seems many of the solutions of encouraging birth are futile.

A measure the government has been taking these years was to import foreign talent to aid and maintain a sufficient number of working population to support the country.

Foreign working population assistance have proved itself to be quite effective and helpful over the years. According to a survey, companies that rely on foreign labour want the government to grant allowance for the quota of foreign workers that can be hired to be raised.

Calls have came strongest from Contractors and Manufacturers, from which Foreign workers form 70% of the working force.

But even as almost half of the companies surveyed are unhappy with the quota being set, it seems that the government is still unwilling to compromise on this matter.

Some disadvantages and fears the government have in mind include:

• Dilution of national identity with the unhealthy mix of foreigners
• Dying away of our own local unique culture with the "Westernization"
• As more and more foreigners take up jobs in various sectors, there would be less jobs for locals who are perceived as less capable as foreigners, aggravating the problem of unemployment
• Expected pay for foreigners would be different from local pay. Gap present would cause much unhappiness amongst the employees of mix nationalities
• Cost of living would be raised unhealthily as foreigners increase property prices

My take on this matter is to have a healthy balance of foreign talent intake and at the same time, help the foreigners to get use and adapt to the local lifestyle and culture. The newly proposed Nationality Test for foreigners who wish to be a Singaporean is a timely action.

Meanwhile, the government should continue its efforts on the most "healthy" solution, that is to encourage more birth amongst local mothers.

Church Camp 7-11 Dec Melaka

Hi all, I just went to Melaka, Malaysia for our church annual camp. I have learnt many things from the camp which I feel is definitely worth sharing.

It was a 5 day 4 night camp. It is our first church camp to have its own children worship ministry. It was my privilege to be selected to be part of the organizing team of the children worship, and we are all extremely excited about making the sessions captivating for the children. I shared a room with the team leader - Jeremy.

The first day was devoted to worship and getting used to the new environment. We started a detailed planning of what the sessions would be like for the next few days the moment we got there. It was important because there were two sessions of worship everyday.

The first session was relatively simple - it was a icebreaker session for the kids to open up and have fun. Our team leader, Jeremy, lead the worship and games first so we can get a good idea of what is expected of the next few days.

The dinner buffet provided by the hotel was fantastic - there were a huge variety of Malaysian, specifically Melaka food served, and they were to my delight, mostly spicy food.

The next day, we initiated the daily morning routine of praying to our God for help and dependence on him. He really blessed the morning sessions by working in the hearts of the children. It was the first time I saw the two troublemaker twins - Jeremy and Louis sing so happily and enthusiastically to God. We truly felt his presence with us.

We went to a peranakan heritage tour in Melaka old town in the afternoon. Peranakans are basically the offsprings of Chinese immigrants and Malaysian women. We went on a in-depth tour around a rich Peranakan house, and learnt a lot from the tour guide who explained in great detail the lifestyle and arrangements of this special group of people. Their culture is a unique and pleasant mix of Chinese and Malay.

The subsequent afternoon was again a pleasure to my friends and I. We went to Melaka's Go Kart track for 4 games of racing. It was honestly the first time I experience such speed in the driver's seat, and unexpectedly, in the second last round, I beat the best rumored racer Uncle James and finished first. Apparently, he went so fast that his car crashed into the tyres flanking the track.

The rest of the worship sessions were simply impromptu and spontaneous planning. We really did not prepare much before the camp, most of the work was actually done half an hour before each session, but to our pleasant surprise, the sessions turned out to be quite successful.

We had team leaders stepping up to lead their group. The usual quiet children were excited and turned out to be the loudest when it came to team cheers. Everyone had fun, and looked forward to the next session. Noah, a 5 year old kid, would never fail to ask me, "Jonah, is there children worship later on? I like it, I want to go."

Before the camp, I thought organizing an event was about holding numerous meetings, doing very detailed planning, and getting everything prepared. But after this camp, I began to relax and tell myself to rest everything in the hands of God. As long as the team is motivated and united to work towards one goal, everything is possible.

I am still learning to be a better leader and to look at the bigger picture always and I will reflect and seek improvement the next I am given the opportunity and privilege to organize an event. Hope to be a better person than I am a second ago.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

My friends and I have just went to the Traditional Chinese Medicine EXPO 2009 hosted by Singapore. The trip was interesting and it is worth sharing.

There were 5 long rows of Chinese medicine distributers from famous brands all over the world today. We interviewed professionals there and took down vital information of chinese medicine. We also took many photos of the exhibits. There was a big lingzhi mushroom the size of a big jeep car tyre.

There were famous brands like Tiger Balm, and yurenshen there to advertise their chinese medicine products. They kindly accepted our request to interview them regarding the various uses and benefits of traditional chinese medicine.

We even talked to the chairman of the organizing committee who agreed to accept our short interview regarding the reason why chinese medicine is so widely popular in Singapore. Traditional medicine is doing a roaring trade here these days, with imports growing by 63 per cent over the last five years to hit US$35 million (S$49 million) last year.

Samuel and I took many photos of the herbs and amazing medicine displayed. We also learnt something new that chinese medicine actually came from animals, and natural herbs. But what makes it chinese medicine is the human add-on and "refining" process.

In a speech by the chairman of the exhibition, he pointed out that chinese medicine is on the uptrend in Singapore as more of the younger generation turn to complementary medicines and companies start tailoring products to suit them.

We videoed down the opening speech, as well as the interview. Looks like it would be a difficult editing work later:)

My friends and I are planning to do our project based on the promotion of chinese medicine - its uses, benefits, advantages over western as well as its long history. We feel it is a worth-while idea to work on.

Chinese Learning (continued)

Yesterday, PM Lee gave a speech overseas regarding the learning of chinese. He noted that times have changed, more students are from english-speaking backgrounds today than in the past, and the government would have to change its teaching approach to best suit the children.

In a press conference, he pointed out the trend of learning is changing constantly, and changes would have to also change constantly to flexibly fit the trend.

It is a foregone conclusion that most students are uninterested in old chinese teaching methods that is still being practiced today. A tailor-made approach by keeping up with the trend would work best to engage the children's interest at school.

Some notable trends:

• Instead of writing the chinese characters out, students are now more interested in typing out the characters in the computer through hanyupinyin input systems.
• Students enjoy learning chinese through acting, show-and-tell, competitions, and games rather than traditional teaching methods.
• The computer internet is a widely preferred medium of learning amongst the students.
• Most students enjoy doing projects, learning and exploring themselves rather than just listening to one person talking at the front.
• Group discussions are preferred to doing things individually.

PM Lee acknowledge these trends and promised that the government do their best to tailor their teaching methods and approaches to best capture the students' interest.

He also brought up the strategy of different strokes for different folks, pointing out the possibility of conducting higher difficulty lessons for those who come from chinese-speaking families.

One current program is the bi-cultural program for those who have the required ability and are interested in learning more about China culture. It is presently being practiced in elite secondary schools.

Being a Celebrity

It has been childhood dream to become as famous as Michael Jackson, but as I grew up and I knew how "haunting" the life of a celebrity can be, I immediately changed my mind.

Michael Jackson, as we all know, is one of the most famous pop artist, in fact, the "King of Pop". He has many fans and supporters and it seems that there is nothing more he can wish for.

But life is really sad for him. Just because he has so much fame, he faces tremendous stress and pressure everyday to perform. It is known that Michael Jackson is a perfectionist who conducts rehearsals everyday consecutively to make sure nothing goes wrong in his performance. This has somehow taken a toll on his health - he has lack of sleep because he is under so much pressure everyday.

The "King of Pop" has never fail to turn to medication whenever he needs sleep. He uses increasing numbers of it, exceeding health limits, to calm himself down before performances, until one day his fame and stress finally killed him.

Recently, Tiger Woods, the world no. 1 golfer, again faces tremendous pressure from tabloids and reporting that he has an affair with two ladies.

The media has "haunted" him, invading his privacy. A small car accident outside his house was being described the tabloids as a desperate attempt to escape from his wife after a violent argument over the rumors about him.

Whether the rumor are true or are simply lies, Woods faces a great stress from the extent the media invading his personal privacy. He expresses his despair and shock that the media is "scrutinizing" his personal privacy and closed-door family discussions. Personal family matters have to turn into public confessions. There is really no family time, space and privacy for celebrities.

With the numerous time taken away by golf tournaments and handling of rumors, I am unsure whether Woods has enough time with his family. Although he is filthy rich man, I doubt he has time to do what a normal family can do - spend time with their children, play with them, teach them, and bring them out for a simple vacation. What is the use of money then?

An Unfair Edge for PAP?

Parties who wish to summarize their points and promises will have to do it on another day than the usual Polling Day eve.

PM Lee announced a new system yesterday to help voters cast votes in rationally. From the next election onwards, which is expected to be in 2011, there would be a "cooling day" on the eve of Polling Day.

In a press interview, PM Lee said that campaigners will not be allowed to campaign on the eve so emotions would not get the better of the voters. Instead, they day of reflecting would help the voters think through the situations, weigh the pros and cons, reflect, rationalize and walk into the voting room in a calm and steady state of mind.

Many voters still recall the past elections where everyone is overwhelmed with emotions and rush in a disorderly manner to cast their votes. The whole situation was extremely disorderly.

The reflection on the eve would help alleviate the problem of disorderliness because the voters are in a calm mindset, and would cast their votes rationally.

This voting system has already been adopted in countries like Sweden and America where the "cooling period" extends to up to 2 to 3 days.

However, there is "grey area", quipped PM Lee, "the internet" where parties can post their messages and points on websites to campaign. But on the whole, the "cooling day" would act as a spirit of reflection for the voters to vote in a rational manner.

Opposition parties seem to be very unhappy with the new system. Unanimous opposition was being expressed over this issue.

Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang pointed out that the PAP can especially turn to TV to campaign, by disguising it as 'news' items from the Government.

'This will effectively give the ruling party an extra day of campaigning to the disadvantage of the opposition,' he said.

The opposition also argues that Singaporeans are rational voters and that opposition rallies are not prone to pose public disorder concerns, after arguments by PAP members that the voters would have time to think through rationally after an exciting campaigning and cast their votes calmly.